The Freelancer Talk Podcast

Hi there, I am back!

2022 was an insane year. I officially quit my career as a professional dancer and devoted myself to Freelancer Talk and my new venture Lanced.

Creating Freelancer Talk has been a wild ride. I've approached it as one big experiment, and my gosh, I made a lot of 'fails'. But yet, without those failures, I wouldn't have been where I am today... which is where exactly? I still don't know!

Through my research conducted at Freelancer Talk, I came to the realization that we needed more automated tools to help creatives with their freelance careers. INSERT LANCED.

Together with Stavya Bhatia, I founded Lanced; an early-stage tech startup developing a marketplace and management platform for organizations and professionals in the Creative & Cultural Industries. 

We are actually crowdfunding for Lanced! So if you're interested in learning more about lanced, check out the following link: getlanced.com 

2022 has been one hell of a ride 😱 but I am already looking forward to 2023. 

I'm happy to announce that in 2023 The Freelancer Talk podcast will return for weekly episodes on Tuesdays! Plus we are going to launch our Freelancer Academy as well 🤩 The Academy will include coaches, workshops, and lots of resources to help you and your freelance career. 

Wishing you all great holidays and I'll be back soon! 

-Wouter

Today's episode is something different, to say the least!

Alix Reigner, host of the DancersFAQ podcast, and I teamed up for a joined episode of both of our podcasts! What does that mean? Well, we both prepared questions for each other and interviewed each other at the same time. And it worked because our double interview turned out to be a really cool and dynamic episode!

It was really awesome to do this episode with Alix, as Alix is a freelance dancer like myself. And just like I did, Alix started her podcast back at the beginning of the pandemic to help others out and offer education and resources.

I'm not going to reveal too much because we both shared our stories of why we started our podcasts, how our podcasts helped us launch our businesses, and how we've navigated our freelance careers through the past year.

Now let's get listening!

Follow DancersFAQ on Instagram
 

I'm back with a new season!

In this first episode of season 3, I'll be sharing where I find work as a freelancer.
Work is something that we all want to do, especially if you are a creative freelance because doing your job often means doing your passion.

So where do you find work nowadays as a freelancer? I'll let you in on a little hint.... your own network!

Yep, most freelancers still find the majority of the projects throughout their own networks. Think of referrals, word of mouth, or even getting a bunch of your connections together and starting something yourselves.

But there are other ways to find work too! Listen to the podcast and discover ways to find your next project as a freelancer!

PS: On October 9th, we are officially launching The Freelancer Talk platform! We will launch our Freelancers Social Network, Freelancer Talk App, and Freelancer Talk Academy! 

In this week's podcast episode, I'm giving you an update on where the Freelancer Talk is at right now and what you can expect from us in the future.

I am changing things up for season 3 and want to hear about real freelancers' stories, so consider this an open call! To be featured on the Freelancer Talk podcast, fill out this form and I'll get back to you asap.

Also, we'd like to know from you what types of resources are needed as a freelancer.
Fill out our survey (it only takes 7 min) and contribute directly to the development of the platform. The Freelancer Talk is made for you so we value your opinions!

And as of last... the Freelancer Talk App is almost here! Right now it's beta testing and we hope to release it officially in September, along with a new season of the podcast, and some live Freelancer Talk events! 

I (Wouter) wish you an amazing summer holiday and am looking forward to September... it's gonna be a BIG month! 

Do you know what your paycheck includes as a freelancer? Many young freelancers who are just starting out make a very common mistake: spending most of their paycheck money on personal needs and living costs. 

As freelancers, we have the responsibility to manage our money in the correct way. Freelance paychecks are very different than payroll paychecks. There is this thing called gross vs net income. As business owners, yes you as a freelancer are a business owner, you are also susceptible to other tax regulations besides your yearly income tax. 

It’s important to understand what your freelance paycheck is made up of. 

Listen to our podcast episode on what your freelance paycheck includes and get a better understanding of how you should handle your incoming money. 

Here’s a quick rundown of a few important things you need to take into account.

In every country*, a transaction for products/services is taxed with a sales/turnover/self-employed tax. Every business owner, that’s you too, will have to pay this either quarterly or annually.

After taking off your sales/self-employment tax and potentially some business costs, you pay yourself. This is the reason why it’s handy to have a separate business and personal bank account. 

What you receive from your business is your personal gross income. 

You are still going to need to pay your yearly income tax, pension, and social securities before you’re left with the amount you can use for yourself, aka your net income.

Don’t let yourself get fooled by the numbers you’re offered! Take all the above into account when agreeing to certain payments, not all of the money you’re offered is actually going to end up in your wallet!

Connect with us!

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook Page

YouTube

For more visit TheFreelancerTalk.com

What is the most important skill a freelancer should have?

I asked this question the other day on the Freelancer Talk Instagram and got some great answers.

But what are the most important skills and what is the difference between hard and soft skills? I'll tell you all about it on today's podcast episode of The Freelancer Talk!

Did you know that 61% of all freelancers are specialized in 2 to 3 hard skills? Me neither? But it sounds like a good plan and it's exactly what I've been trying to do this past year. 

If you're looking to up your freelance skills... this podcast might give you some ideas and insights! Enjoy listening!

Join The Freelancer Talk's social network today using the following link: http://thefreelancertalk.com/join/

And of course don't forget to follow us on Instagram for the latest updates on podcast episodes, blogs, events, and platform features!

Pension and Retirement, two things that no one likes to think of when they're in their 20s.

I've stressed this many times before, as freelancers you are responsible for every single aspect of your business. Meaning, you are also responsible to pay/organize your own pension and plan for your retirement. Unfortunately, this is something that most freelancers at the beginning of their career don't even think of. Even I caught myself avoiding this topic for a long time. It's an important topic and therefore I decided to devote an episode to it!

In this week's episode, I have Radon Stancil as a guest to talk about pensions and retirements. Radon runs his own firm called 'Peace of Mind Wealth Management'. They basically help people plan their retirement and manage their financial accounts. He's a freelancer himself and understands all too well why people push this topic to the back of their minds.

As a freelancer at the beginning of your career, we are often in survival mode. Trying to make ends meet and hustle for the next job. After you're out of this phase, people will save money to put towards a house, a new car and after that, you might have kids. So when is the right time to start thinking of your retirement? When should you start paying pension and how can you build up an account for later? Radon will tell us all about it!

Personally, Radon truly enriched me with new knowledge. And I think that is the wonderful thing about this podcast. I'm trying to find people to learn from and have interesting discussions with on topics that I sometimes am experienced at and other times not so much. I myself am also a freelancer still relatively at the beginning of my career and every week I discover or learn something new about this wonderful but also challenging lifestyle. 

That said, enjoy listening to the episode, and don't forget to join the Freelancer Talk platform!


 

For today's episode, I invited the incredibly kind and talented photographer Laura Zalenga to join me for a Freelancer Talk.

Laura has been a Freelance Photographer for most of her career and has worked for clients like the United Nations, Adobe, Facebook, Sony, MaxMara, and Disney. It's an impressive list!

She sells her own courses, teaches workshops and masterclasses, and runs her own Patreon community. But besides all of that, she also has an impressively large following on Instagram which was my initial reason for inviting her. But quickly after doing some more in-depth research, I found that just talking about her Instagram following wouldn't do her justice.

In the episode, Laura shares with us her journey to becoming the photographer she is now, what freelancing means to her and why she calls herself an activist.

However, we are spending a big part of the podcast discussing what these followers mean to her, if Instagram has contributed to her success as a photographer, and why it's important to be vocal on social and ecological matters.  This is not a "how to get more followers" episode but more of a talk on what it means to have such a following and mostly why getting it shouldn't be your priority as a freelancer!

Let's get listening!

Want to follow the course on Self-Portrait photography we talked about during the episode?
Purchase Laura's Domestika Course using THIS link!

If you're a creative freelancer you might want to check out our brand new Social Network platform for creative freelancers! Share your work, connect with people, host online events, and become part of a real community! JOIN US NOW!

How to improve your online presence by using SEO?

If you've never heard of the term SEO before, you're in luck. In today's podcast episode I'm discussing all things SEO with acclaimed SEO expert Steve Wiideman.

Steve has worked on the SEO strategies for Disney, Honda, IHop, and many more!

No question was off-limit so I came up with a broad variety of SEO questions so that we could all learn from Steve and feel like we've gained some new knowledge after listening to the episode!

Some of the topics we are discussing:
- How the Internet has developed in Steve's 20+ year career and what today's benefits are.
- What does SEO mean?
- How does SEO work? Crawlers vs Indexing.
- How to get started with SEO as a small business.
- How will voice be incorporated into search?     

There are some really interesting facts and research findings Steve shares on the podcast. So if you are a true tech geek, it's definitely worth your while!

Interested in getting to know Steve yourself and wanting to see what he's up to? Check out Steve's website and LinkedIn!

Let's get listening!

Are you a Creative Freelancer and want to join our brand new Social Network? Make sure to sign up using the following link: http://thefreelancertalk.com/join/
 

Let's talk about mental and physical health!

In today's podcast, I'm sharing some of the things that helped me personally get through this current ever-lasting lockdown in the Netherlands. 

I know that not every country is in lockdown but I do know that most of us freelancers find themselves working alone from their homes. 

So how do you stay healthy while working from home? Do you need to be more physical or do you feel socially detached? 

I hope that by sharing I could give you some valuable tips that you could apply to your current situation and most of all I hope that we are all healthy!

Things will get better soon! 

Want to connect with other freelancers from around the world and feel supported? Join our NEW social network for creative freelancers TODAY! 

http://thefreelancertalk.com/join/